Next wave of musicians add strings to their bows

Harriet Cunningham

High achievers ... standing: Rebecca Gill, James Yoo, Brendan Parravicini and Nicole Greentree; sitting: Jack Schiller, Som Howie, Kelly Tang and Laura van Rijn. They will spend a year with the Sydney Symphony, take part in performances and sit in on masterclasses. Photo: Marco Del Grande

They say you have to start early but Laura van Rijn, 26, waited until she was 16 to take up the flute. Som Howie, 22, used to play with Lego under the piano as his father coached singers but only started clarinet at 12, when one of his father's colleagues at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music needed a complete beginner to trial a new teaching program.

Ten years on, these aspiring orchestral musicians have won the jackpot: a place in this year's Sydney Symphony Fellowship program.

With the help of the program's major sponsor, Credit Suisse, they all receive a stipend to spend a year with the orchestra. During that time, they will take part in a range of orchestral performances alongside experienced orchestral mentors, squeezed in between a packed schedule of chamber music, masterclasses and professional development sessions.

''It's unusual in the fact that there is a big emphasis on chamber music,'' he says. ''Most orchestral training programs are about orchestral technique but, in a way, that's the easy part.

''We do chamber music, specially tailored workshops on things like stagecraft and Alexander technique. We also try to connect with the biggest audience possible. This year we'll be playing in a high-security prison, in schools' concerts and in corporate settings.''

Why the emphasis on chamber music?

''There is no better preparation,'' Benedict says. ''It's a cliche to say that orchestra playing should be like a big chamber ensemble but it's true. The skills that you learn, like listening, how to follow, knowing when to take initiative, when to take a back seat, knowing how far to impose yourself on the group - all those things are in need in the orchestra.''

This year's fellows test their skills next Wednesday in their first public concert, a lunchtime chamber music recital at St James's Church, Sydney. Benedict will be watching closely to see how they perform.

''They haven't worked with each other yet,'' he says. ''It's like an arranged marriage. We expect them to form an ensemble and make great music.''

Whether the marriage will work is yet to be seen but the potential is there, the eight young musicians selected for the program representing some of Australian music's highest achievers. Van Rijn, for example, is studying for a PhD and her research subject is orchestral auditions. Howie is still completing his undergraduate degree but he has already performed with the Sydney Symphony, in Mahler's Ninth Symphony at the end of 2011.

''It was the scariest gig but also the biggest boost for me", says Howie, who made it to the finals of the ABC's young performer competition last year.

The program offers a flying start to a career as an orchestral musician. There are alumni of the program in the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam, the Leipzig Gewandhaus in Germany, across Britain and in every Australian orchestra, not to mention the Sydney Symphony. Benedict insists the program is not simply an extended job interview.

''We're not just training them to be members of the Sydney Symphony,'' he says. ''That would be unfair. There might be one flute job come up every 10 years. So we would be failing our fellows if we were only training them to be a round peg in a round hole. We're training them to be as adaptable as possible.

''I want them to be at the forefront of the profession, not just waiting for opportunities to come. So I don't want them trained up to feel entitled when a job comes up in the SSO. I want them to think how they can lead the profession.''

The Sydney Symphony Credit Suisse Fellows perform at St James's Church, Sydney, on Wednesday at 1.15pm. Entry is by donation.